The Writings of Abraham Lincoln, vol 2 | Page 7

Menard County. I know he is candid
and this alarms me some. I asked him to tell me the names of the men
that were going strong for Hardin, he said Morris was about as strong
as any-now tell me, is Morris going it openly? You remember you
wrote me that he would be neutral. Nathan also said that some man,
whom he could not remember, had said lately that Menard County was
going to decide the contest and that made the, contest very doubtful. Do
you know who that was? Don't fail to write me instantly on receiving
this, telling me all- particularly the names of those who are going
strong against me.
Yours as ever,
A. LINCOLN.

TO N. J. ROCKWELL.
SPRINGFIELD, January 21, 1846.
DEAR SIR:--You perhaps know that General Hardin and I have a
contest for the Whig nomination for Congress for this district.
He has had a turn and my argument is "turn about is fair play."
I shall be pleased if this strikes you as a sufficient argument.
Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.

TO JAMES BERDAN.
SPRINGFIELD, April 26, 1846.
DEAR SIR:--I thank you for the promptness with which you answered
my letter from Bloomington. I also thank you for the frankness with
which you comment upon a certain part of my letter; because that
comment affords me an opportunity of trying to express myself better

than I did before, seeing, as I do, that in that part of my letter, you have
not understood me as I intended to be understood.
In speaking of the "dissatisfaction" of men who yet mean to do no
wrong, etc., I mean no special application of what I said to the Whigs
of Morgan, or of Morgan & Scott. I only had in my mind the fact that
previous to General Hardin's withdrawal some of his friends and some
of mine had become a little warm; and I felt, and meant to say, that for
them now to meet face to face and converse together was the best way
to efface any remnant of unpleasant feeling, if any such existed.
I did not suppose that General Hardin's friends were in any greater need
of having their feelings corrected than mine were. Since I saw you at
Jacksonville, I have had no more suspicion of the Whigs of Morgan
than of those of any other part of the district. I write this only to try to
remove any impression that I distrust you and the other Whigs of your
country.
Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.

TO JAMES BERDAN.
SPRINGFIELD, May 7, 1866.
DEAR SIR:--It is a matter of high moral obligation, if not of necessity,
for me to attend the Coles and Edwards courts. I have some cases in
both of them, in which the parties have my promise, and are depending
upon me. The court commences in Coles on the second Monday, and in
Edgar on the third. Your court in Morgan commences on the fourth
Monday; and it is my purpose to be with you then, and make a speech.
I mention the Coles and Edgar courts in order that if I should not reach
Jacksonville at the time named you may understand the reason why. I
do not, however, think there is much danger of my being detained; as I
shall go with a purpose not to be, and consequently shall engage in no
new cases that might delay me.
Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.

VERSES WRITTEN BY LINCOLN AFTER A VISIT TO HIS OLD
HOME IN INDIANA-(A FRAGMENT).

[In December, 1847, when Lincoln was stumping for Clay, he crossed
into Indiana and revisited his old home. He writes: "That part of the
country is within itself as unpoetical as any spot on earth; but still
seeing it and its objects and inhabitants aroused feelings in me which
were certainly poetry; though whether my expression of these feelings
is poetry, is quite another question."]
Near twenty years have passed away Since here I bid farewell To
woods and fields, and scenes of play, And playmates loved so well.
Where many were, but few remain Of old familiar things; But seeing
them to mind again The lost and absent brings.
The friends I left that parting day, How changed, as time has sped!
Young childhood grown, strong manhood gray, And half of all are
dead.
I hear the loved survivors tell How naught from death could save, Till
every sound appears a knell, And every spot a grave.
I range the fields with pensive tread, And pace the hollow rooms, And
feel (companion of the dead) I 'm living in the tombs.

VERSES WRITTEN BY LINCOLN CONCERNING A
SCHOOL-FELLOW WHO BECAME INSANE--(A FRAGMENT).
And when at length the drear and long Time soothed thy fiercer woes,